30.11.1995

Against repression in Argentina

ON October 2 a demonstration of more than 500 unemployed workers demanding the payment of benefit promised by the government took place in Neuquén in the south of Argentina. The demonstration was violently repressed by the police and has been followed by a witch-hunt against the left.

The Neuquén demonstration was one of a series of struggles this year against the Menem government’s austerity plan. Provincial governments are being starved of funds to encourage them to sack workers and privatise services. In some provinces the wages of state employees have not been paid for several months.

In April a worker was killed by the police during protests against the closure of a television factory. Oscar Martínez and other leaders of the metalworkers’ union, UOM, are being prosecuted following the events.

On October 24 around 1,000 people participated in a joint demonstration in Buenos Aires demanding the release of Horacio Panario, arrested member of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) and a halt to the attacks on the left.

Linda Addison